A Preston city councillor is calling for action over ongoing issues which he said are blighting the lives of residents on the Sparling Drive housing estate in Cottam.
Ben Ward, councillor for Ingol and Cottam, said residents were at the end of their tether over the dilapidated nature of much of the estate’s roads and wider infrastructure, with unsurfaced roads, raised manholes, missing drainage grids and inadequate street lighting just some of the concerns.
While the mixed-use leisure and retail plans for the wider Cottam Brickworks scheme have not materialised despite years of planning wrangles, the housing estate was originally built by a firm called Lane End, which went into administration with the estate two-thirds built. Jigsaw Homes then took control of the estate.
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But with roads and drains on the estate still in a bad state, Lancashire County Council (LCC) said it and United Utilities (UU) were waiting on Jigsaw Homes to carry out essential maintenance which would then allow both parties to adopt the estate and its transport and sewerage infrastructure.
In an email to Cllr Ward at the start of June, Andrew Huskisson, highways enquiry officer at LCC, said: “The site has had several developers since its conception, however Jigsaw Homes are now committed to undertake the repairs to the highway and the drainage and sewer system.
“Once United Utilities have adopted the drainage and sewer system and repairs [are] carried out to the highway, we will agree to and sign the easements allowing formal access to the site. This would then enable us to formally adopt the estate.”
In a letter to Sparling Drive residents back in April, Jigsaw Homes confirmed this was the approach being taken between them, LCC and UU.
The letter stated: “Jigsaw Homes remain committed to bringing the roads to an adoptable standard [and] we are currently in the process of liaising with the LCC highways team and a contractor to complete these works.
“The works can only be done once the drainage remedial work is complete, which is being progressed and meetings have been held with United Utilities to firm up the scope of works following extensive survey work. The final adoption of the road is out of Jigsaw’s control and will remain the decision of the statutory authorities.”
However, Jigsaw would not commit to any timeline for completion, saying instead it hoped to make ‘meaningful and visible progress this calendar year’.
Cllr Ward remained unimpressed and claimed that one resident had told him they were ‘stuck here, waiting till the day I can escape’, while others were unable to sell their homes or remortgage because of the ongoing problems.
Cllr Ward added: “While this merry-go-round continues it is the residents on the estate who are left in limbo, trapped on an unfinished estate, making life for some a living nightmare.”
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